Gravity Calls
by ShirobaratheFirst
Summary: It's almost ironic to have been annihilated by her light, just to be greeted by the darkness. But there is room here, he welcomes it. Punishment after death, perhaps. A last spell from his beloved for having her kill him in the first place. Vision carries on in the other side, and finds that Death grants company. (MAJOR INFINITY WAR SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)
1. Chapter 1

**Soooooo, saw Infinity War yesterday. That stuff done messed me up. Seriously, I am going to be depressed until the next movie comes. Hence, it's time to shed some light on an official fanfic for this precious 10-year work of art.**

 **This story** will **revolve on Vision and Wanda if you haven't already guessed. JUST BECAUSE. There will be others mentioned and given the spotlight, but let's face it the wonderful couple were the highlight of the movie everytime I sae them on the screen.**

 **Now for those who have not seen the movie, BE WARNED FOR MAJOR SPOILERS. There is a warning and the description and in the notes for every chapter, so don't roast me for 'spoiling'. You have been warned.**

 **Aside from the certain parts of the movie which I plan to do my take on in the form of flashbacks, this is set AFTER the events of the movie, and there will be some parts where I will do my take on the precious off-screen moments and time-skips we all love to fantasize about. Hopefully it will mend all our broken hearts if little.**

 **Lastly, I do not own the gift of Heaven that is Marvel, or any of its blessed babies in their beautiful universe. It all belongs to the heroes behind it all. All that is mine is this story which I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 _He didn't need to do the entire equation to confirm their current situation. Ever since that damnable spear run itself through his body, there was little to no need at all to depend on his advanced calculations._

 _Once she had jumped off the window-leaving him only a smile of assurance for his weakened protests-to join the carnage in the field, he knew they'd past the point of no return. The Witch was just as much of a trump card in their deck as much as he was. And even that hadn't been enough._

 _Vision knew they had lost._

 _Shuri had done all she could. It was admireable of her to have nearly given her life for the sake of parting him from the stone. But time was lost, and by then the enemy had reached them as well. With what little strength he had left, he took on the largest of them to assure the Wakandan princess her safety._

 _As a result he ended up alone in a small part of the jungle. For many reasons, he was grateful for this. If he were to fall in the hands of the enemy, he'd rather have it in such a way where his comrades didn't have to see it. Shame and pride weren't usually weighed hand in hand (especially for a still-young synthezoid who'd just begun realizing such human concepts), but it was easy to accept both, knowing he could die with at least some semblance to honor and dignity._

 _And that she-Wanda, would be spared from the sight which she fears. Which they both fear._

 _Of course, she still found her way back to him. Appearing before him from the red mist of her powers, saving him yet again._

 _She's been saving him a lot as of late. In the deeper parts of his mind, places he'd yet allow her to wander in, he'd felt quite embarrassed to have her best his opponents before he could've even had the chance to fight back._

 _Now, as she stands there, shielding him from the sight of the Mad Titan that had finally arrived to finish his work, he now corrects that feeling to 'guilt'._

 _More of their comrades had arrived to fight the all-powerful entity, hold him back, perhaps give the android a chance to escape._

 _But they were weary, weak from battle. Otherwordly creatures continued to amass around them, and their deck was just about empty._

 _There was only one card left to draw._

 _On his knees, he reaches out to the woman who helped usher him to this world. The broken child who thought she lost everything, and whom he'd saved from falling with her homeland. The Witch who had become his very own Avenger in every possible way. The lover whom he was given the greatest honor to have, and probably never will have again._

 _With just one glance, he knows that she reads him. There's not even a need for his mind for that. It was written in his eyes. She won't have it, and tries to focus on the battle at hand. But he forces her to look at him, and with her eyes locked onto his there is no more turning away._

 _He pleads with her, showing her what his mind feared as he rested her hand on his cheek. Her hand, so warm. So fast to soften from batte to the feel of him. So ready to slap him even, if just to convice him to wait a little longer._

We are...out of time.

 _And she knows that. Her lip trembles to both his words and the thoughts they share with it. If only they were granted just a moment longer, he'd capture her lips once more and erase all sorrow._

 _But even as he wishes to forestall the inevitable, it is also him that encourages it further._

It should never be you, but it is... And I wouldn't have it any other way.

 _His words is accompanied with the innate fear of perishing under the hands of another. Mainly the Titan, himself. And although it was a ridiculous way of convincing her to go ahead with it, there would be no shred of lie behind it._

 _It **had** to be her._

 _When her first tear comes, he cannot help but kiss the inside of her palm. Another tear falls._

It's all right.

 _Regretfully, he retracts her hand from his cheek, and relocates it to hover above his forehead. Just within an inch from the Mind Stone._

You could never hurt me, Wanda.

 _God knows this to be true, even if he has yet to master the entire concept of religion and acknowledge it in the same way the others do. He knows either Steve and Tony would use the phrase all the same anyway._

 _She's sobbing now, face torn in her (and his) anguish. And even so, he could feel her mind steeling itself. Shutting out everything and just be done with it. He lets her know just how much it humbles his proverbial heart._

All I feel is you.

 _And he'll take that with him as oblivion dawns ever so slowly._

 _With a breath,she finally summons her magic and begins the process. It was rushed and violent. Her scarlet streaks coursed through his entire body, all of it accumulating in his gem. There's no immediate effect, and so she summons her other hand, doubling the fatality of her power._

 _The point of excruciation kept circling between his body then to the gem and back. Had he not been made of vibranium, it would've been difficult to set aside the pain._

 _Though, it is her tears that truly pain him anyway._

 _He sees in her eyes, reflections of all the people she'd lost. Her parents. Her brother. Her people, her home. The thought of him begging for his destruction from her in order to spare the universe was truly a cruel one. And the fact that it meant she'd lose another once again (to save a world where she'd be without him), was even more haunting._

 _He comforts her anyway. Whispers assurance instead of exclaiming in pain. He calms her with memories. Memories before the bombing incident, before HYDRA. Memories of her family, and happiness among her people. And mostly, memories of him. Because he knows, she'll want that._

 _A crack starts in the center of the gem, and he feels a portion of his systems crashing. In just a few more seconds, the rest would begin to malfunction as well._

 _Then, he feels it. A stream from his eye that mirrors the millions she'd cried herself. He' never criee before, and had never thought he would be capable of such an act. If this were any other situation, it would've been a sight that Wanda would've relished on. For it would've been a new mark of his humanity._

 _How regretful that it was now, on the brink of his death._

 _She clouds herself with her red mist as much as she can, feeling the impending doom of her beloved so close. The cracks of his life source sound much like her heart breaking. A sound, that was no stranger to her._

 _Just before the gem completelt breaks, and her powers overcome him, Vision whispers the final thing she needed to hear. It would mean goodbye, as it would be his last. But it didn't mean that the depth of feeling he always brought with it would lessen any. Not even in death._

I love you.

 _And although it was too late for him to hear her say it back, it was easy to embrace the dark that greeted him once her light destroyed him completely._

 _Because loving him was all her soul screamed._

* * *

Air is thick and heavy. There is no smell and sound which is a cause for worry. There was never usually a place where neither were present. A place with no sound exists, sure. Churches, underwater and space would be perfect examples of that. And even then, there would be at least a hint of a smell coming from anything.

The scent of wax, incense and flowers. Salt, powder and the sour stench of an astronaut's own skin.

But both do not exist here. And when he opens his eyes, it doesn't surprise him much that there is nothing the eye can see either.

The vast darkness feels almost welcoming. Familiar, even.

Though, the memories of dark he recalls felt more confined and shrouded with insidious purpose. Here-wherever here is-had no limit at all. No limit and no purpose.

Having observed this, his body grows cold. He hadn't imagined what oblivion looks like, but he supposes that what is displayed before him looks about right. And like the poetic verses a comrade said to him once, _'we will leave this world, exactly how we came in it.'_

How true his words were. He was a creature born of darkness, so it was only natural that he passes in the same way.

He muses however, that at the time of his birth, there had been the presemce of a red light. Warm and innocent. Gentle and unknowing. It had unconsciously greeted him as his existence started, and from then on it was a light he had imprinted on. Just as that light had imprinted on his.

As he is suspended in the void, he wonders if such a light would come greet him again.

But it was a wishful thought far too foolish to hope for.

She'd done what he asked her. It was all over now.

And while it was over for 'them' as well, he found comfort knowing that she was safe. No matter how far away she was now.

His sight blurs, the dark becomes more dim.

Really, was death something one must get used to as well? Would he have to contemplate death here as he'd contemplated life on the other side? The idea was preposterous, but at least there was something to hold onto that wouldn't sadden him so much.

Gravity calls and it's confusing.

Vision only manages to hum in reply.

* * *

 **No regrets! No regrets at all! So much motivation for me that I'm gonna follow up with the next chapter right away.**

 **To the followers of The World to Start Again, worry not. I will continue that along with this. A fan's gotta stay in touch with her loves after all.**

 **Really hope I didn't drag that scene out too much. It was just so heart-wrenching! And you gotta admit there's so much you could write about in there, y'know?!**

 **Once again, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to those reading this and supporting me through your good words. It gives me all the in the world! It also almost distracts me from my grief from IW until I start thinking about it then... *le cry***

 **Call me crazy, but I have been hella active on reading up forums and analysis on the upcoming Avengers 4 movie next year. The rumors I'm getting are driving me insane.**

 **So let's have a breather with this. And as always, Marvel and its univers will forever belong to the grest people behind it. All the way up to Stan Lee, our hero.**

* * *

The first few times it had felt like a dream. That the dark was temporary, and everytime he drifted off he felt like he would wake to the world he once knew again. Open his eyes to the sky, the grass, the people. And...

Her.

But it's only disappointment whenever he comes around again. But its only just him here. Him floating around in this bleak darkness. There is nothing living here, and techinically he isn't living either. Not anymore anyway.

There's not telling how long it's been. With no certainty of 'where' he was, there was no way to track when, how and what time started on. All he could rely on was his own fleeting memory of his untimely demise and work his way from there.

"Then I'd say about a day and a half." Mused Vision to himself.

Still, there's no telling whether that was accurate or not. From 'feeling' he could say a day had passed. But all of it seemed further than that. Wakanda, Thanos, Wanda, dying... It almost feels as if decades had passed since he left it all behind.

"Time is irrelevant here then." He supposes, since there wasn't going to be anyone else to tell him that.

The thought makes him grimace. He never would've thought the idea of isolation would make him feel so lonesome.

During his first days in the new Avengers compound, there would always be someone around that required his attention, or at least some form of involvement. Whether it was another training session, small talk or the breaks everyone had every now and then. There was always someone around.

Now that he thought about it, Vision had never been truly alone since then. And when that sinks in, he nods to himself upon the realization.

"You were never alone, so you were never lonely." He says this a little louder because it's not like anyone would be there to hear it. And then he recalls his birth, and realizes he'd been with company even then. "You were there right from the start, weren't you Wanda?"

* * *

 _A red light had been present ever since he 'came' here._

 _He doesn't know why came is the right term, but it feels right and he uses it throughout the time he's trapped in this... Dark._

 _For a long while the red light disappears and he is alone again._

 _Had he been alone from the start? He can't say. But he feels. He feels so many around him. They're all alive, and they're all... fighting?_

 _It seemed like they were. He could feel the exhaustion of conflict and rush of adrenaline even though he was stationary himself. Whatever it was that was happening, it seemed to be directed at him. Earlier, his sense of being was peaceful with that alien, but gentle red light._

 _But now everything was in pandemonium. And he was becoming even more tempted to resolve the situation for-whoever it was that was out there._

 _It's an even longer while until things calm down. But when it finall does it was also then that he feels it. The return of the presence of the red energy that greeted him in the dark._

 _He welcomes it so readily, knowing (despite his still early stages) that it will not harm him. He's just about ready to reach out to it when a new presence suddenly jumps out of nowhere._

 _So fast and sudden, strong like a shaft of pure lightning. It was filling the dark with blinding light, and all at once, he couldn't take it. It was too much. He had to get out now._

 _Opening his eyes, he lurches forward, pushing away an unidentifiable object._

 _He takes a few seconds to let his sight adjust. When he raises his head, he finds himself in what he could only identify as a laboratory. Sight adjusting some more, he then notices that there are people around him. 7 of them, surrounding him with their eyes wide._

 _Conscious, he glances down at his hands. Red and grey-ish, metallic. When he slightly drops his hand from his sight, he perceives a strong concentration of energy straight ahead from him._

 _And his eyes land on... A woman?_

 _She was clad in black, features stone-hard and cold. But her hair and her soul, it was as bright as scarlet fire. And then he feels it. It wasn't as warm and gentle as before. It was fiery and threatening now, but he recognizes it._

 _She was that light. The one who came in his darkness, as if singing him a lullaby to awaken._

 _Had she been a part of the earlier commotions he'd heard? He can"t say, and the inability to reach an answer clouds his mind to the point of forgettinf why he was here in the first place._

 _So, he jumps at the first man he lays his hands on without much thought or reason._

 _Of course after that he realized just what a first impression he'd done on the group._

 _Once everyone had the chance to calm down, they filled him in on the information that he'd been in possession of right from the start. Though he is thankful to the verbal updates all the same._

 _One of them, he identified as the Norse God Avenger, Thor, had a private word with him regarding something that played a big role in his creation._

 _Despite trying to put all attention on the higher being, but could not shake away the intensity of a gaze boring down on his side. Immediately after the conversation, he turned to find the scarlet woman again._

 _It was obvious that she'd been staring at him. Her abrupt attempt at looking away and walking off to join a silver boy was too much of a dead giveaway._

 _He had no idea why he was attached to her so, but it was na irksome curiosity. Even more so when he considered the fact that he knee nothing about her._

 _These troubling thoughts followed him to their incursion to Sokovia, where they were to stop Ultron-his creator._

 _During the ride he did a recon on the team that he had suddenly become part of. And he couldn't help but linger on the scarlet woman. He was surprised to find that she was birthed from Sokovia. Herself and the silver boy, whom he discovered hmis in fact her twin sibling._

 _He found out the cruelty that had brought itself on them. On her. And they-she fought with rage stemming from those horrors. And the strength she displayed was nothing short of admireable._

 _She was a formidable force, capable of one-man destruction with but a graceful twirl of her fingers. It fascinated him so how both gentle and violent single human woman could be. He found himself focusing more on her rather than the task at hand._

 _Her light so blinding as he fought with her and the Avengers._

 _But tragedy struck them. Or her to be more precise._

 _There'd been a miscalculation in their plan, as one in a million plans tend to do. One of their people was reduced vulnerable while saving a civilian. Ultron had him within firing range. But the silver boy, sibling of the scarlet woman, ended up giving his own life to protect the other man._

 _He was shot down, and she fell to her knees in despair._

 _All alone in her grief, she failed to see a stray pawn of Ultron that activated the weapon intended to destroy the land they were on. And it all went downhill from there._

 _Thanks to Mr. Stark and Thor, they quickly formed a contingency plan that allowes them to save the people. But as a result, the city had to be destroyed._

 _During this confusion, he found no part to play in the plan. Instead he found hinself searching for the red light, lost and dimming in the damned city. T_ _hankfully, he was able to find her just as they city was about to be decimated._

 _When he found her, she was freely floating in a wrecked train car. Her light weak. She wished to be reunited with her brother. But despite having no official attachment to her, he wrapped his arms around her body and flew them both to safety._

 _Secured in the air with her in his arms, he watched as the city blew up and sunk to the ocean. Gone. And in the short silence the onslaught left, the woman in his arms speaks._

 _"Why didn't you let me die?"_

 _He looks down at her, but her eyes are elsewhere. Distant and blinded with grief. He answers anyway. "You did not deserve to perish in such a manner for the simple reason of reuniting with the dead, miss."_

 _Looking back at it now, he knows that it wasn't the most appropriate thing to have said to her. Especially during her moments of bereavement. But at the time, she didn't gave much attention to it, and instead addressed a smaller detail._

 _"Maximoff.."_

 _She finally brings herself to look at him, dirt-faced, tears and all. Tears that threatened to escape but she forces herself to stay stoic long enough to say, "My name is Wanda Maximoff."_

 _But he already knew that. Even in the dark while he was being birthed in the Cradle._

 _Right from very start, she had been with him._

* * *

It wasn't a completely pleasant memory, but it was the starting point of their companionship.

As he opens his eyes to the ending of his reminscing, he holds onto her voice. The warmth and dangerous rush of her crimson energy. Everythimg about her that greeted him before and right after he was born.

"You had not changed a single bit." Vision chuckles, breathing a sigh of relief.

And nothing had changed about her. Nothing except her light shining brighter, until he knew h would be able to find it even if they be parted across worlds.

Maybe, he thinks, one day he would be able to do just that. Even from where he was now.

And then, just before he begins to drift off to 'end the day' in a matter of speaking, a spark lit from the corner of his eye.

He stares long and hard at the spot where it came from, waiting to see if it had beem a trick of the mind. But it lights up again, and it pulses brighter and brighter. It wasn't until long that the once black void the android occupied became filled with...a pure golden-orange light.

Vision felt for its presence, wondering if it was there to harm him.

Then, "Hello?"

Gravity becomes shaky then, and Vision stares into the light upon the arrival of _someone else._

* * *

 **Badududunnn! Oooh a golden light appears! What could it be?**

 **I was gonna go for their time at Scotland to be the first flashback, but the parallels between his birth and his (ahem*apparent*ahem) death seemed more fitting.**

 **Any gueses on the new person about to be introduced? Find out in next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**It saddens** **me how I am already halfway through my summer. I can already feel the rage ready to burst once the first assignment comes around. Oh the horror!**

 **Thanks to all the followers of this story, it gives me joy no matter how many times I still tear up at every Infinity War commercial that comes on the TV.**

 **As always, Marvel belongs to its creators, oldest to youngest. Only THIS story is mine.**

* * *

"Hello?"

It's not a voice familiar to him. Not even one that resides in the memories of the vast intelligence he had accumulated in the last few years. The formidable, but otherwise benign presence, wasn't much to go by either.

Whoever this 'person' was, it was a stranger. And even in death, Vision found it necessary to remain on guard.

"Might I ask who is there?" He calls into the light, calm and firm.

He quickly thinks that what he sees could still be a form of hallucination. Something that accentuates the state of death, upon which signs of life were given just a tad bit enough to comfort but not be able to obtain for onself. Which was a cruel punishment on top of dying and leaving the only woman he ever loved.

But the light flickers and alerts Vision of its presence furthermore.

"You're here too. I thought I was all alone." The presence replies and there was an obvious hint of relief on it.

"Be that as it may, you did not answer my question." Vision remarks, readying himself in case he needed to attack. _Could he even be able to attack here? He was dead, wasn't he?_ "Who are you?"

"My name is Stephen Strange."

And upon that name, the intellect he already had, unlocked the necessary information needed and relayed it to him in faster speeds compared to when he was living. Everything he needed to know about this stranger that called himself _'Strange'_ (as strange as that was) was all in his grasp.

"You were a famous neurosurgeon in New York. You had a car accident and permanently damaged your hands. After which you sought help from the sorcerers of Kamar Taj at Kathmandu. You have then on been consecrated as the master of the New York Sanctum, one of the three Sanctums that protects the Earth from mystical threats."

Then silence. A very, very long silence.

Its obviously out of awkwardness. Vision has been made aware (only recently) how his forward attitude expressing his thoughts made several people speechless one too many times. The Avengers included.

Its almost no surprise that he's retained this part of himself, seeing as he's retained majority of everything else. Even his collection of data. One would think that would've been cut off once he was dead. But that didn't seem to be the case here.

All he had to link with the name 'Stephen Strange' was the operation Insight SHIELD had heralded around the time it was discovered that HYDRA had been in control behind the shadows. An algorithm created by one of its members targeted specific people who were potential threats to the dark organization. And Stephen Strange had been one of them. And the missing links just came on their own.

The question of 'how' he had been able to do that, here, and without the Mind Stone was one that begged for answers.

But this personal matter could be tend to another time. There was still the doctor he needed to deal with.

"Is this supposed to be normal?" Strange asked. This time it was clear confusion.

"Nothing is supposed to be normal in death, Mr. Strange."

Silence again, and its one that's usually associates with moments of reaching a realization.

"So I am dead." The sorcerer admits, devastated now.

"The sooner you accept that the easier it will be for you to exist here." Vision offers. It wasn't much of a consolation, but it was all he could give the man.

"Judging by your tone you must've been here for a while now."

"Can't really say. It could feel like a day when really its a century."

The gravity of the conversation sinks in, and the silence grows evermore. Thankfully, the sorcerer pitches in to help ease it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't get your name."

The android cannot help but be surprised. It was already boggling enough that there were now two of them in the void. Engaging in a conversation regarding their being here had made it beyond awkward. But acquainting with each other shows the promise of regular familiarity within this closed darkness. And it wasn't something Vision exactly counted on.

But that didn't change the fact that isolation would take its toll regardless of the person's stature. And the synthezoid was no different.

"I am Vision."

"Vision?" The doctor repeats. "Are you acquainted with Tony?"

"And by 'Tony' you mean Mr. Tony Stark?"

The light flickers once again, and now it collects itself before the android. It began to take shape and it was no mystery that it was of human form. When the arms and legs were completed, Vision then focused his eyes straight ahead as the man's face materialized.

He didn't seem to be puzzled at all to have just been a 'presence' and then just suddenly take on a physical form. His eyes read that there was a more pressing matter than that, and his thoughts were unexpectedly open for the Vision to read. "I believe you and I need to have a long conversation."

* * *

 _Despite his developed verbiage and growing knowledge day-by-day, he found it quite difficult to approach any of his new comrades. And it was far from the fact that he was a machine powered by an alien jewel._

 _Seeing as the lot of their team weren't exactly qualified to be called normal, it was more likely due to his own discomfort at striking a conversation. And that was saying something for a being who could easily see what anyone would be planning on saying before they even had the chance to say it._

 _So most of the time, the instigators of idle chatter were left to the others._

 _Most of the time it was Steve Rogers who did that. But he'd observed that he acted that way around everyone for the purpose of familiarizing them with himself. Especially the new recruits of the Avengers, one of which is him._

 _Occasionally he'd get a few words from Tony whenever the man came over to the compound for a visit. He'd ask things like 'how you hanging?', or 'hope the old man's treating you all right,' and other things that still took a while for the android to fully grasp since he was more fluent in the traditional way of speaking._

 _The others proved far too challenging to even try. Rhodes held the same air about him as those of Stark, albeit more intimidating. Wilson and Romanoff have the same outward indifference that he could only approach once his social skill had reached those of Ultron-as much of a terrible example as he may be._

 _So that left only... Her._

 _Wanda Maximoff she had introduced herself._

 _They hadn't formally spoken since Sokovia, and incidentally she was the one whom he wished to speak with the most._ _He cannot come up with a conclusion as to why, which only proved to increase the insistence to speak with her more._

 _An innate thought argues that it was to formally introduce himself as she had done. A common courtesy. Another says that it was out of his curiosity, still intact prior to her presence in his birth. The last thought, gravely explains it was to console her for the recent death of her brother._

 _And seeing as how she has hardly spoken with anyone else in the compound just as he, the last thought is the easiest choice._

 _It's night then in the compound. And like all the nights that have passed, Vision finds himself venturing into the common room with several books in hand. Sleep doesn't exist with him, which was no problem to him. Though he finds it a tad bit odd that the others hadn't noticed it yet._

 _Still, the silence offered by their peaceful slumber allows him to read in silence and he plans to do just that tonight. But he is stopped mid-open book by the slightest shuffle from the stairs. He turns and even in the dark finds her radiant hair alight._

 _"Oh." She stops in the middle of the stairs, eyes on him. "I didn't think anyone else was still up."_

 _"No one is, yes. I haven't slept since we came here, so I suppose I don't count."_

 _She closes her eyes and he feels her mind contemplate going back to her room. "Sorry, I'll just-" But he decided she shouldn't just yet._

 _"You are free to join me, Ms. Maximoff." He says, raising the book in his hand. "And I will be reading if you do not wish to talk." And to prove his point he opens the books and starts reading right off the bat._

 _Wanda then takes this moment to descend the stairs and reach the couch where Vision sat. She occupied the other end opposite him, lifting her feet from the floor and tucking her legs against herself. She says nothing, so he remains quiet._

 _He goes on reading then, ignoring the urge to break the silence by saying something utterly sudden. But as the first few minutes went by it was becoming more difficult to intentionally slower his reading pace. By now he'd have been able to finish his book in hand. But the woman across from him was beginning to show obvious signs of uneasiness. And it was having a mirrored effect on him._

 _Just as he's about to close his book, she speaks up. "Do you always read at night?"_

 _Vision closes the book but keeps a finger in between the pages. "I read whenever I have the time for it. But the night is an exceptional time as the silence has no equal to it."_

 _Her head slightly reels back at his words. "And you said you haven't slept since we came here?"_

 _His eyes light up. A conversation was starting. "Yes. As an android I do not need sleep."_

 _She scoffs at herself for having forgotten that. "Of course. Of course... Sorry." A sigh and her eyes become distant. "If I were an android it would be as easy as that."_

 _He hears her mind turning, thoughts going back and forth regarding a certain death. Not much ice has been broken yet to work around that. But in the very least, he can question her lack of sleep tonight._

 _"But seeing as you are not, might I ask what's keeping you awake, Ms. Maximoff?"_

 _"It's Wanda."_

 _He looks at her then. "Pardon?"_

 _"You can call me Wanda. Just Wanda." She smiles. There's not much feeling in it, but its the first on he's seen her make since...ever. It's a start._

 _"Wanda." He repeats and her smile stays a moment longer. Seeing his opportunity, he probes once more. "Is there something bothering you?"_

 _Her thoughts say that there is, and the fact that its so easy for him to see it makes him feel ashamed since she remains unaware of it. She still says nothing, however, and instead leans further back against the cushions._

 _"It's nothing." She extends a hand out, and her red energy circulates around one of the books by his side. Vision only watches in thoughtful fascination as she floats the book to her waiting hand. "Is it okay if I borrow this?"_

 _A ghost of a smile is still present on her face. Thought it was still a little void of emotion, he was grateful for its presence. And that in a way, it had been him who brought it forth from her._

 _"Of course."_

 _And that was his first official conversation._

* * *

After Strange had finished speaking, both he and Vision remained silent to allow the words to sink in.

It was most definitely something that wasn't easy to absorb. Since his coming here Vision was convinved beyond reason that the world he had left behind finally had a chance to survive. A chance to remain as the world he cherished. A world where his Wanda could remain living. That was why it was so easy for him to surrender his life to her. And yet now...

"I apologize. Being the first person you've seen here, it wasn't my intention to be the bearer of bad news." Strange says, apologetic.

"Of course it wasn't." Came the android's reply. There's a visible sign of trepidation in his mechanical irises. "We're both dead. How can any other news we receive from hereon be worst than that?"

It wasn't in his nature to be uncharacteristically troubled to the point of bad sarcasm. But as the sorcerer had just revealed, he was the bearer of the Time Stone. _Was._ And he had given it up to Thanos. And now he was here.

It was nearly terrifying to think what that resulted in the world so far away from them now.

"I am sorry." The doctor apologizes again.

And then the light, his light dims. Weaker and weaker it goes, until his form is completely out of sight. It doesn't take long the light to disappear altogether.

Its dark again, and Vision is left with a heavier feeling on his shoulders other than the fact that he forced his lover to murder him.

Alone was he, far from her. With a great chance that she could still be in peril, and that he was absolutely incapable of doing anything to prevent it.

Gravity is heavy, but the weight of his death on her hands is heavier.

* * *

 **This is the longest chapter so far. I hope it wasn't a boring read hehehe.**

 **Yay Strange is here! Heheheh guess we shouldn't be so happy about that since it means they're both dead. But at least our baby android has some company.**

 **Most definitely not sorry about the strange puns I put in there~! XD**

 **Hope you all enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I keep seeing Infinity War related videos in my Youtube. I am getting paranoid day by day. -_-**

 **The Venom trailer is starting to show on our cable. I'm finding myself falling in love with more baddies. Who else wants to see Tom Hardy and Tom Holland's characters clash? Coz I know I do!**

 **Here comes that awkward walking through the walls unannounced chapter hahahahha.**

 **Marvel DOES NOT BELONG TO MOI.**

* * *

 _It takes some getting used to. A LOT of getting used to._

 _To hear their every open thought about things they have no wish to share with the others. It's particularly difficult when he hears the thoughts of Steve Rogers regarding a woman he was forced to abandon 70 years ago. Just for him to resurface in the modern era and be reunited with her, memory of him all but fading._

 _To see things with keener analysis from their smallest of movements. Such as the instances when he sees Natasha Romanoff cut off the calls she receives from her best friend the archer. The way she stays motionless and quiet for a completely infinite minute. Especially on calls when she sees his children. Children that both he and Romanoff, know can never have._

 _To know things that the others aren't even aware of yet. Like how Mr. Stark was working on a special project to upgrade Sam Wilson's falcon suit. Something about an 'extra wing'. But the inventor had been a little mum on the details._

 _It's a challenge. But it's one he's willing to face._

 _If anything it's the only thing he can task himself to do in the compound. Because he was basically, always in the compound._

 _Not that it was a form of imprisonment. Steve had made it very clear a week after they returned from Sokovia:_

 _'Now there's no knowing what will come against us next. After Loki, the Chitauri, and heck-Ultron, I can only imagine. And there's still a lot of sweeping we need to do to clean up the mess HYDRA made. I don't want to sound like Fury, but I can't gurantee we can always have you out in the field. Given your capabilities it's better to keep you here until we need you for something that's bigger than us. And I just don't want you think that's all you are to us, a weapon. Because you're not."_

 _Those were his exact words. And Vision was only so willing to oblige._

 _He knows the vast difference between what he is to the team and what he is to the people part of it. He understands that while he is no doubt a part of their (somewhat) family, he was still a creature capable of destruction. Just like Ultron. And having defeated him, perhaps he was capable of something even more horrific than that._

 _So he obeys the Captain's orders and remains in the compound for the majority of the Avengers' next missions. It was the logical choice, one Vision himself would have decided all on his own._

 _Perhaps his willingness to the confinement of the compound is what grants him the luxury of knowing the full extent of his comrades' characters without having to approach them personally. And seeing his own struggle to connect with them, it was a blessing in disguise._

 _His only concern was that the others wouldn't have the luxury of this new past time of his._

 _When he's reread his books at least 5 times, meditated in the balcony that lasts for hours, and listened to the set of CD'S and vinyls of music provided for him from each of the Avengers (since they all said the best way to learn about human culture was through sound. Stark had been the most enthusiastic about it, but Vision didn't reciprocate it after the man had nearly deafened everyone in the building by playing his tunes on full blast), the android glides through the compound._

 _He revels in it. The silent serenity, the unoccupied spaces, the feeling of security. And it's all there for him. Free for him to explore and just exist in._

 _It may have been unintentional on Steve's part, but it was truly a gift for the android. A gift that allows him to learn the deeper parts of their humanity. And therefore give him an insight of his own._

 _There is no guilt either. Not when he enters their rooms and just stands there for a second before proceeding to another. Not when he scans the rooms' contents and always learns something new each time. Not when he's done it dozens of times and could potentially be dubbed a creep should anyone catch him on the act._

 _Because he knows that they know. They know that he sees them, for everything that they are. And they accept that. From him they'll accept it. Because like them, he's one who'll take a second look without being repulsed by the truths he finds in it._

 _When he's gone through all the rooms he stops in the common room to review all that he's learned a second time. By the time everyone returns from their mission for today, he can better understand the after show from their battle. The looks, the talks, the insults, the banter. It's all stored in his mind._

 _A sound floats im the air and his reverie is paused. What was that? He angles his head to all directions of the room. A step forward has him nearer the staircase and the sound increases. Was that music he was hearing?_

 _It couldn't possibly be. Everyone had gone. The agents were situated in a different section of the building so there was no way any of them could've strayed this far. Most especially not in the Avengers' personal abode._

 _What's more was that he had gone to every room. Full sweep like always. There was no possible way he could've missed anything. That is until he reaches the upper floor and realizes just where the sound has lead him._

 _Wanda Maximoff's room._

 _Vision had_ never _entered Wanda's room before. As much as all the boasts he has about this little venturing of his, it was just about the only room could never bear to set his foot in._

 _Why was this so? Oh, well it's like just about everything else that involves the red-headed woman. An anomaly that strikes him as the most questionable of all because he cannot find a a solution to it. Vision DOES NOT KNOW._

 _There's no answer as to why he's chosen only her to spare from his not-so-harmful incursions to their rooms. The more he tries to think it over the worst the clouds get. He will have to solve this unsolveable (for now) question soon, lest he be buried in continuous piles of uncertainties that this particular Avenger keeps giving him._

 _By the time he's thought of all this, the sound grows ever-so-louder. He can't sense anyone in the room which immediately puts his body into battle mode. Deciding that whatever was in the room needed to be dispose of, Vision conifdently floats through the wall._

 _He'd expected a HYDRA spy sneaking into the facility to steal intel. He'd expected it was another otherwordly life-form sent by Loki Laufeyson or some other. He even expected it to be nothing at all, that Wanda has left her CD player on before leaving-which was ultimately not in her nature._

 _What he hadn't expected, was to come face to face with the Witch herself, wrapped in nothing but a loose towel. By the way she's holding it rather than being tied, he can only assume that she had just came out from the bath._

 _"VISION!"_

 _Her voice, a sharp whiplash that quiets the music he now realizes she'd been listening to. Before he intruded._

 _"I am sorry, I thought that you accompanied the others on the mission."_

 _The look of incredulity on her face lessens none. "So you thought I wasn't here?"_

 _He nods. "Yes." Better to be honest about it._

 _"Even if I weren't here, why would you go through the walls? The door is right there!" She enraged, pointing to the room's primary enrtrance/exit._

 _Her anger is something he can't understand. Surely she would know about his explorations of the facility like the others did. And even if she WAS present at the moment, it's not like she hasn't seen him going through the walls before. So why the fuming?_

 _The pressure of her anger reaches his mind. And having read him seems to further infuriate him. "Why are you even still here?!"_

 _Vision blinks. All he did was walk in her room out of concern for an intruder (even if he had initially thought that she wasn't here.) "I am sorry.." He tries, keeping his eyes trained on her face._

 _"Vision! Can you not understand that I am naked here?!"_

 _The word 'naked' runs itself through his imprinted vocabulary. What he finds makes him hang his head. No wonder she was so upset._

 _He doesn't fully understand the weight of their situation, but if it would appease her state of mind then he better get a move on. Shifting on his heel, he turns to the door. "I'll use this then."_

 _There's no telling how long he waited in the common room. He knows she wants him to, so he does._

 _When finally she emerges from her room and joins him downstairs she is clad in one of her usual black outfits. Despite the clothing, her arms were still wrapped around herself_

 _The android stands and immediately starts his apology. But Wanda stops him._

 _"No.. It's fine. I overreacted. I shouldn't have done that." She sighs. He can tell that she only half-believes her words. "I should've remembered that you just started... Living a month ago. You probably had no idea why I even.."_

 _"It's all right, Wanda." He cuts in, not allowing her to be embarrassed abour something that he'd done. "I do apologize."_

 _"It's all right." She repeats. A finger rakes her hair over her ear as she considers something. "Could we maybe prevent such a thing from happening in the future?"_

 _She was giving a solution to their problem. How thoughtful. "Certainly. That would be helpful in the event-"_

 _Struggling with the words, she speaks for him. "That you barge in on someone naked.." Unable to help it, she smiles to the way he bows his head in what she could only guess was embarrassment. "Easy trick to remember. If the door's closed, there's a chance that someone might be inside. And if there is, always consider that they might be doing something personal. So always knock for a closed door."_

 _"And if the door is opened?" He asks and the honest curiosity behind his voice helpessly widens her smile._

 _"You can go through walls, then. But not on mine." The grave threat is added with a small red spark from her fingers before she ascends up the stairs again._

 _He doesn't know what propels him to do it because the matter was settled. But before she disappears toward her room, Vision calls out one more time: "Again, my apologies, Wanda."_

 _She glances over her shoulder and smiles reassuringly. "Most guys would do it on purpose. It was just an accident."_

 _And when she's gone and he's alone again, he can't help but think that it hadn't._

* * *

It took some getting used to, but it's become easier to steady himself in the void now. There's not really an 'area' so there's not much room for moving about either. Putting himself to a meditatitve positiong was as good as it could get.

Time is slow. Mud and tar molded together to form a non-moving ripple. If any mere mortal were thrown in here they'd surely end up losing their minds.

But he was of strong will. Strong mind and (synthetic) heart.

He's reached a very impressive level of calm now. One that he's sure would allow him to forget what he heard yesterday. Or maybe it was a year ago. Or 10 years. Maybe a hundred if he let himself lose his guard again.

He had hoped it was a dream. A nightmare. Illusion, hallucination, imagination. Anything that wasn't true because he doesn't want it to be. He's almost forgotten it.

That is, until familar golden light begins to glow from behind him.

He already knows who it is. Har already knows it's Strange. It was the same time as his first appearance. He's not exactly sure how he can determine the time. But there was an immense feeling thst he wasn't mistaken in his observarions.

Still there was no answer to the one behind him.

"Mr. Strange." He calls.

"I'm sorry to leave like that, but I needed to speak with you again."

Ignoring the other man, he tries to drown himself to the black, the white and her red. But he wasn't so rude so as to not answer. "What more would we need to talk about?"

"Not about that." Strange says immediately.

"What is it then?"

Silence that goes on too long forces Vision out of his meditation.

"I just want to talk." Says the sorcerer quietly.

"Why?"

"Because you're the only one here that can talk back."

Gravity becomes silent. No one speaks.

* * *

 **awwww heheheh the awkward walk in on the room scene.**

 **As soon as Civil War did all of thst cute little moments, it knew that the world would be ready to make the fanfics for it.**

 **So Strange is... Lonely? Maybe. We'll find out in the next one.**

 **Hope ya'll enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**No flashy backs for the chapter. So I'm sure it's gonna be a short one. Maybe. I dunno.**

 **This gonna be all talk and musings, so if either of the guys are too OOC for comfort... Not much I can do hahahahh. They're in the other side now. Walls need some breaking.**

 **As always for disclaiming, I do not own Marvel its characters, stories and everything else. It belongs to all their respective heavenly creators.**

 **Just the story is mine.**

* * *

Vision takes a very long moment to comprehend the sorcerer's words.

 _'I just want to talk. Because you're the only one who can talk back.'_

If the android didn't know any better he'd say the man sounded lonely. Well, who wouldn't? They (it's they now. One way or the other Vision's gonna have to acknowledge the two of them existing in this forsaken plane) were both dead now. With complete knowledge of _how_ it had happened. And now this was all that's left for them. A literal void.

Loneliness is a concept Vision can easily understand.

"All right." He says. "If you're planning on staying long, I suggest you take a seat."

He feels the uneasiness behind him clear as day.

"I don't exactly know how I'm supposed to do that." Strange admits. He hovers behind the android and studies the position he was in. "How are you even sitting? There's nothing-no floor or ground or anything."

"I never quite believed in the supernatural existence of Death and the afterlife. And yet here we are."

If this discussion was going to drag on like this Vision won't be able to sate himself with memories unreachable except for the mind. He will have to sort this out with the doctor if he were to concentrate on those treasured thoughts if just to hopefully imagine he was still by her side.

"You said you wish to speak." Vision begins because Strange showed no signs of doing so. "We have already established not to speak of 'that', so what is it?"

Uneasiness still, so much of it in the air that Vision forces himself to stand to avoid getting infected by it. He faces the sorcerer now and only then realizes the obvious fear on his golden luminescent face. The thoughts in his head ring loud and clear. The events prior to his death was the only thing occupying him. And certainly, the only thing he wished to talk about. For now.

But before the android could inquire to that particular topic, Strange finally speaks up.

"I understand you were made by Tony Stark."

The swift change in the atmosphere is so fluid the man could've done the motion physically rather than verbally. It doesn't lower Vision's concern for his state of mind, though. It was still in there. Poison of a memory rotting his already-dead mind.

Vision could convince him to go ahead and just speak what he truly wanted to say. But he was being mindful of how it would affect Vision himself. He must've felt awful relaying the message the other day. If this was an act of random kindnes than Vision was in no position to oppose.

"To be more precise I was originally the artificial intelligence that managed his household and the programming for his suits. When Ultron came, he and Dr. Banner recalibrated my software into the vibranium vessel the former made for himself. And finally it was throug the Mind Stone snd Thor's power that the process was completed and I came into existence."

It's another god-awfully long silence. Longer than the last one. And worst too since Strange figured it wasn't just a fluke the first time.

"Do you always answer in complete detail to the point of making people uncomfortable?"

"Mr. Stark engineered me to be so. Though I wouldn't know why anyone would feel distress if I give the most appropriate answer."

Strange laughs. "And this was before you became an android? Or maybe it was right after you got struck by lightning?"

The sheer contradiction of his argument made Vision frown with disapppointment. He wasn't exactly an engineer or scientist but a highly respected neurosurgeon would at least know what he was talking about.

"Being struck by lightning was the focal point of my transference to this synthetic body. I don't understand what part of that is amusing."

The doctor's laughter threatens to grow louder, but he forces himself to keep it in out of respect for the being before him with his patience still intact. Eventually, Vision catches on the joke.

"You were mocking me." He says, and the innocence of his unawareness just increases Strange's merriment. That is until he sees the android's face grow solemn. "For some reason I cannot recall the last time someone else had done so."

Why would he say that? Of he courss he does. It was Wanda. It was always Wanda's job to test what sense of humor she thinks he has. So many instances had happened between them before that it's impossible to count (he can of course, but he'd rather perceive it as an immeasurable product.) Why, when recalling it now, he can't see any of it? Can't hear her laughing because of him, with him... For him...

Why

Why

Why

So many why's. And here Vision thought that it was Stephen Strange who was to bring about the chaotic unknowing. And yet it is him. Thankfully the doctor speaks up again before his serenitt could be clouded any further.

"I didn't mean to disappear on you by the way."

Vision blinks the swirling confusion away. "Pardon?"

"When I told you about..." Strange pauses to keep that which must not be said, unsaid. "I didn't mean to disappear. I still don't really know how to 'operate' myself around here."

The calm returns to him and he masks his relief with understanding. "If you're aware of the limitations of your capabilities then you're well on your way to learning."

Strange laughs again, but this time it's dry. Humorless to the idea of practising the ways of death. Vision can't blame him.

"Spent my whole life learning. Never would've imagined that I'd still be doing that even in death."

"Then we are just the same in that regard, Doctor Strange."

The identitiy in which he acknowledges the other man is appreciated greatly. Then an idea formulates in his mind. "Perhaps we can help each other learn."

The idea catches the sorcerer by surprise. "You want me to help you learn? You're an android. I'm pretty sure you can learn a lot faster on your own."

"Well, a dear friend of mine always said to be open to new horizons." And he's sure that it was _her_ who said it. "So how about it, doctor? Let's be each others teachers."

Gravity calls then. And once since his arrival here, Vision accepts it with new-found hope.

* * *

 **Sorry for the lack of action or development here. I had no idea which moment of VisDa to show in a flashback next. And the nightmares is something I intend to after two more chapters. Probably.**

 **So just have this little convo here. I actually think it's nice. Intellectual talk, since Tony and Strange had more of a battle of wits in Infinity War hehehehe.**

 **Hope for the dead? Maybe. Maybe not. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Back and at it again. Bahaha. Got a litte distracted with my Gorillaz fanfic. Especially with their new song 'Humility' from their new album The Now Now. Also because of Russel and Murdoc's very close birthdates which are necessary for a chapter update.**

 **But that does not mean this one is paid less attention! I want Vision to be possibly alive after IW, and this is one way to do it! So, commence!**

 **MARVEL AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS AND OWNERS.**

* * *

The doctor makes good company. He admits this for exactly what it is and not because the doctor was basically the _only_ company he had.

Sure, it was a peculiar thing. To establish a rapport with someone in their supposed afterlife. But the fact that they co-exist in such a place, and having previously carried a similar burden before their demise, is probably what made it so easy to accept. The proof of the impossibe seemed to eliminate all other aspects of the concept itself.

Doctor Strange, the sorcerer of the New York Sanctum, and Vision, the vibranium android birthed through an alien jewel. It was the unlikeliest of pairs.

There is no specific time to their meetings. As already established since arriving here, time was non-existant.

One could only wait for the other. And no matter how long it takes, neither fails to make the appointment.

They kept their promise of helping each other learn the mysteries of their current vicinity. To explore what their intangible forms were capable of, what reaches of the dark plane could be touched, and what explanations should be tackled when questioning the meaning behind it all.

On Vision's part, he's taught the doctor how to maintain usual motor activity just as they were when they'd been living. A tricky lesson, given that there were no visible floors or platforms to speak of. It makes the android understand how it proves more difficult for a human, as opposed to him who naturally hovers several inches off the ground most of the time.

Strange on the other hand, is unable to teach anything. Having just recently arrived it was understandable that he'd yet to obtain a skill to pass on to his fellow drifter in the dark. So he takes it upon himself to initiate talking.

It's always a random topic with him, but it's always sincere and with intent that Vision easily dives in the conversation with equal feeling.

On one occasion the doctor had asked him about his powers. Despite being a sorcerer capable of harnessing energy and mastering the mystic arts, he still found it fascinating to be in the company of a man (two men, a homicidal robot and a god) made synthetic. The burning curiosity of the man in regards to a creation's power was a call for humility.

It's odd to speak of himself in front of others. He's never chosen to do so unless someone specifically asked, or such information was direly needed in any case.

To talk about oneself felt very narcissistic and arrogant to him, even if it was to simply explain the details of his power. Or at least that's what Colonel Rhodes used to tell him whenever he mentioned Tony Stark.

"Do you have sonic blasters? Or built in artillery? Any sort of component similar to Stark's suits?"

Strange's calm voice is a pleasant addition to the silence of the void. It fills the gaps in which Vision remains silent as he finishes teaching Strange how to sit properly.

"I am not equipped with weapons or machinery of any sort. While I am constructed purely out of metal and replicated flesh, my internal design was made to completely resemble that of a human's."

It's an expected answer, and yet Strange is still caught by surprise. "Replicated flesh? You don't happen to mean Dr. Helen Cho's synthetic-tissue technology, do you?"

Vision looks over to him. "I was birthed directly in her Regenaration Cradle."

Again, the doctor is surprised. But now it's Vision who wishes to ask the question.

"You approached her as well while trying to seek recovery for your damaged hands?"

Silence. No matter how many times they 'meet', the absence of speaking never fails to leave them both. It's such a shame that it's almost usually Vision who causes it.

Thankfully, Strange was a specimen capable of enduring such occasions where privacy was barely protected between the lives they lived. And it's not like it could be avoided. What more could they speak of here other than themselves?

"Well, she was recommended to me by one of my colleagues." Strange finally answers and he's getting better and better at seating himself on absolutely nothing but air. "But replicated flesh is hardly a good choice to heal what happened to my hands. I lost the ability to heal others. Before Kamar Taj, I used to think I would never regain that ability."

"And yet you have in the best of ways." They share a look of understanding. "It seems you have mastered the art of sitting in this void as well."

Strange positions his hands near the points of his knees, index and thumb touching in a perfect meditative stance. "You haven't answered my question yet."

"My main power is telepathy. It allows me access into the thoughts of any living individual. My protocols as JARVIS integrated into that, which expanded my knowledge exponentially. The stone gives me the abilities of flight, intangibility and harnesses energy that I can only assure is of alien design."

The doctor chuckles, impressed this time by the answer.

"Don't forget you're one hell of a conversationist. And a pretty good teacher so far."

Vision mirrors the laugh. Not because he found the statement humurous, bur because of the sheer coincidence that only one other person had told him that before.

* * *

 _The daily training sessions are quite the highlights of any given day. Everyone is always willing to pitch in and help the new recruits to have a better connection as a team. Both behind and on enemy lines._

 _Work is also done to them individually. Both Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff take turns in having one-on-one with the new members. Sam Wilson and James Rhodes were the easiest. They've been in the company of both long before they decided to join the Avengers. Their sessions went smoother than the carpets of any of their rooms._

 _It's safe to say that both himself and the Scarlet Witch were the most difficult to approach in terms of training together. There were many supernatural and unknown abilities to consider, and also the fact that both were still very new to their own power._

 _Vision is very aware that his power exceeds those of his human conpanions. And if left unchecked could prove potential harm to them all. It's why they keep him hidden in the compound unless they were facing of with a far superior adversary._

 _So he decides to train on his own. It proves much easier and less dangerous for his allies. He can be alone with his thoughts and explore just how far his control of power can go. It eases him that he is able to discern these details, and therefore enable him to be a better comrade to his team._

 _The past few weeks of this practise have gone smoothly. That is until one day, while he once again thought he was alone in the compound while the team was out, someone came upon him in the training room._

 _He had been practising his intangibility on one of their target mannequins when the door opened and her vibrant energy filled the room instantaneously._

 _"Ms. Maximoff."_

 _Turning to face her, he found she was dressed in her usual training clothes. A prototype version of her battle suit. One look at her said it all, and also a few glimpses into her unshielded mind. She'd been training by herself just as he has. She probably did so on different time periods-perhaps at night when he feels her awake and doesn't join him reading-which was why they never reached each other. Until now at least._

 _"Why are you not with the team?" Is the first thing she asks._

 _For a moment he wonders why she was still unaware of his confinement to the compound unless called upon. He tracks his memory to when they first encountered each other in the building, both alone and initially convinced that the other was elsewhere. He now realizes that he never told her the reason why he had been present-due to a certain unpleasant intrusion on his part._

 _So he tells her now and she is absolutely shocked. Slowly it disappears and she looks-no feels, feels emphatic. He hears it in her mind too. And he realizes, confinement to the compound was another thing they share. For the same reasons that their powers were beyond that of a human's. Only difference was that, she personally chooses to stay away from the missions._

 _Sensing the silence was there due to a subject that they shouldn't discuss (yet), Vision side-tracks._

 _"I take you're planning to train as well?"_

 _"If you"re using the room I can just come back later."_

 _Vision gives her a consoling look. "There is quite enough room that'll sufficiently hold us both, Ms. Maximoff."_

 _She enters now, unsure where to place herself. "You keep forgetting to call me Wanda."_

 _He bows his head in apology. "Formality is in my nature, I suppose. Probably because of my previous programming as JARVIS."_

 _"And yet you're all Vision." She says this with a smile that Vision finds himself looking away uncertainly. "So what are you doing?"_

 _"I'm familiarizing myself with my molecular phasing.." He glances slightly to see her questioning gaze, so he further explains by demonstrating. His eyes fixate on his arm as it begins to fade in color, though not entirely. It remains a faint gold and nearly ghost-like. He threads it toward the mannequin and it easily floats through the solid material._

 _Wanda is easily drawn by the feat and moves closer for a better look. He repeats the motion for her. "Are you able to...solidify? Solidify your arm while it's...in the mannequin?" Confirmation comes in the form of doing said feat. She remains unfazed as Vision taked apart the dummy in with one sweep of his arm. "Impressive."_

 _The compliment prevents him to look at her so he turns and moves a slight distance away from her. "And you...M-Wanda, what skill were you planning to improve?"_

 _"This for instance." He turns to look at her as she says this. Her hands were dancing now, the red swirls collecting around the scattered remains of the mannequin. She keeps at it, until the pieces begin to rearrange themselves back onto the pole, making the once destroyed dummy, whole again. She looks over to him for a reaction._

 _"Very impressive." His reply has her smiling, and involuntarily he does too. It's an action he's only done a few times, mostly when around her to be in fact. He distracts himself from the thought by reading into her own. "Something tells me, however that you have intentions of practising something else, Wanda."_

 _Her eyes avert here and there. She picks on her decorated fingers, small sparks of her power still present. "I was hoping to.." But she cuts off, eyes shining with embarrasment. But Vision insists. "I was hoping to work on my flight."_

 _He's sure his eyes shine with surprise then. "You've developed flight then?"_

 _"Well I wouldn't exactly call it flying." Her hands go everywhere, scratching at her ear, combing her hair. She was that uncomfortable. "I basically just rocket-launch mysef into the air for a short amount of time to cover a certain distance. I can't maintain it any longer than 8 seconds."_

 _Vision considers something for a while then faces her, serious and concentrated. "Perhaps I can assist you?" She looks disapproving right away. He understands but doesn't stop trying. "Given my own ability of flight I think it will prove quite helpful for you."_

 _Inhale she goes, going over the idea. Finally she drops her hands to her sides, eyes cool and hard. "And how exactly do you plan on helping me?"_

 _Several hours, many toppled minor equipment, and a few bruises on the the good Witch later, Vision and Wanda are both seated on one of the benches. The break was mostly for Wanda since the android didn"t even exhaust himself. But he was becoming concerned with her paling face, profuse sweating and patch bruises. He wished to end their session so she could properly rest, but she kept insisting._

 _"Your last fall was rather rough. It would be wise to stop now to prevent any further, and possibly more severe injuries."_

 _Wanda wipes at her eyes and shakes her head. "One more. Just one more." Although it was hard to tell whether he was getting annoyed or not-he probably wasn't capable of such-she's sure that he was almost close to feeling it. Almost anyway. That is if he stopoed being genuinely concerned first. "Let's go just one more time. Please."_

 _Unfortunately he was unable to refuse. So they get up again, standing in the center of the room. Vision positions himself behind Wanda despite their previous attempts when he simply flew across from her to assess her own._

 _"What're you doing?" She asks, mildly alarmed._

 _"Worry not. I will not do anything unless your form breaks again. This closer proximity will also allow me to better prevent your fall and avoid injury."_

 _She laughs softly, whispers her thanks. The countdown is done by her, and on 3 she dons her magic, launching herself upwards as slow as she can. Vision silently follows, mindful of her space but making sure he was close enough in case her balance went off again._

 _It goes smoothly for a while, lasting 15 seconds which was the longest they've managed. Wanda counts the seconds and laughs as it reaches 23. He reads her mind loud and clear, she doesn't eant ti stop now. And he doesn't want her to either._

 _"I kind of feel like Stark now." She admits. Then suddenly her laughter dies away._

 _Vision's guard flares up and he's inmediately behind her as soon as her hands lose control. He grabs both her wrists and holds her in place before she can shoot off to the floor again. He feels her mind in turmoil, memories of the bombing that stole the lives of her parents. A missile with the name STARK on the side._

 _He feels her thinking that he hasn't an idea what's causing her distress and decidedly refuses to breathe it out loud. In her current state, he doubts he'll be able to comfort her by simplr words. So he speaks with his mind._

Calm yourself, Wanda. _Her mind blanks quickly, focusing on the voice._ That's it, hold onto my voice and calm yourself _._

 _Her magic dissipates now. Only Vision is allowing her to remain in the air. Her eyes are stinging with tears that won't come out, and the memory proves too powerful. Without hesitating, Vision leans closer to her ear. He begins to whisper what his mind says, hoping to double her calm._

Fight the memory. It is in the past. Focus on now. Focus on flying.

 _She's slowly coming back now, breathing heavily to clear all the troubles. Eventually, her magic returns to aid her back to levitating._

I'm okay now, _she says_. I'm okay _._

 _But Vision doesn't let go. Not even when her mind demands it. He holds on until she's as tranquil as she was when she came in the room earlier. He wait, and waits, and waits some more. Then she speaks out loud._

 _"Thank you..."_

 _Vision sighs in relief. "You are calm now?"_

 _She nods. "Thank you."_

 _"You are very welcome, Wanda."_

 _A very, very tired sigh from her. "I think... I'm ready to stop now."_

 _He simply nods and decides to let her go. However, she dissipates her magic trusting him to drop them both back to the floor. She was that exhausted. Once they're down, he immediately senses her guilt for losing control._

 _"All things considered, it was a pretty good practice, Wanda."_

 _She smiles but is too exhausted to speak anymore. Her mind however still rings out._

He's a pretty good teacher.

 _He didn't intend to point it out now, but it was becoming very shameless to keep seeing into her mind while she was uaware._

 _"Perhaps next time we'll practice on your telepathy."_

 _And they did. They practiced together all the time after that._

* * *

He doesn't realize Strange is calling to him until he feels the golden light weaken.

Looking to his side, he sees the doctor begin disapppearing in his usual time. Vision must have been pondering for quite some time. Well, at least he managed to get the man to sit.

"What do you think of when you space out lke that?" Strange asks, half of him already gone.

Vision stares. "I'm afraid it's not something I wish to takk about today, Doctor Strange."

The doctor only nods. Before disappearing completely, Strange adds: "Good lesson today."

And he is gone. The only difference is that the void is much much emptier. More than the android would like.

Gravity calls and Vision is alone again.

* * *

 **Oom lalaala boom! Longest chapter to date hahahah. And mors VisDa scenes yay! Flying lesson was based on a fanart I did on paper a long time ago. Loved it so much!**

 **Strange and Vision would have the best conversations, I just know it. I really hope they meet in the next movie. And VisDa survives!**

 **Thanks all for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**This is awkward. Almost went through a month without writing. I should have left a notice that classes have startedbfor me. Sorry for everyone whose been waiting. I can't promise that the updates will be regular, but i can assure you that updates will always come.**

 **Anyone else trying to figure out which of the 'supposed' leaked Avengers 4 rumors are true? Hard to tell these days ain't it. Wellp we're already in the middle of this year, time goes that fast.**

 **Now, let's reunite with our lonesome android.**

* * *

 _When nights are quiet like this, he reads through more books than what he has prepared. He's also assured that no danger would surface and that his team-his friends, the others have been encouraging him to use that term more often-could sleep soundly._

 _The quieter nights however, have less in them. Because quieter means he reads alone, and that the Witch who accompanies him is absent._

 _He understands these instances, of course. Though she shares his affinity for books and reading, she still lacked the endurance to stay up on straight hours without feeling the need to rest like he does. And tonight, is no exception._

 _The team had an assignment today. He couldn't go obviously, but the Witch was specifically requested to accompany them by Captain Rogers. She was only more than willing to join. She's been cooped in the compound as much as he's been. Getting by with only their training, occasional conversations and on and off night time readings._

 _Vision, though unable to join them, was as grateful for his companion's opportunity to be in the field and be able to test out her newfound strength. And though it means she'd exhausted herself and must now take the whole night to rest and deny him a reading companion, then he'll endure the more evident silence._

 _He's on his 8th book when the still-silent building is suddenly attacked with an equally silent threat._

 _It's also another thing that he's observed. Other nights, the most unexepected ones, hold very dangerous instances. Regrettably, the cause of these, is also in fact, the Witch herself._

 _In truth, this threat was basically harmless. It was as intangible as Vision's own form could take, but it's one that he's very, very familiar with._

 _When the night hums a quiet turmoil much like tonight, the faintest of scarlet ribbons dance everywhere in the compound. He finds them beautiful, he always does no matter what form they take and whatever spell lies behind it._

 _But when the air is filled with visceral images of internal conflict with dreams coming from his companion's disturbed slumber, he investigates immediately._

 _This spell, he's learned is one that their scarlet companion does unsconsciously. One without her consent, and where she is actually asleep herself. Yet the level is no less dangerous than when she does so awake and willingly._

 _Call it a matter of priority since she was the one causing it (he'll realize the term is different later on), he goes to her first. Always._

 _And like always, he finds her writhing in her bed, choking in her sheets, drowning in her tears and her fiery magic on full power without the manipulation of her hands. She calls and cries out in her native tongue. Since the Sokovian language was the second book he began to prioritize after their first reading session, it was easy to decipher the word. But then again, anyone who saw her now could easily tell what she eas trying to say._

Don't go. Don't leave me. Pietro, brother... Don't leave me like they did. Don't leave me. I know you miss them, but miss them too. You said we'd go together. You lied to me. You LIED. You said you'd never hurt me. This hurts so bad. It hurts. It hurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedyouliedliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliaryoudieiieyoudieidieyoudieidieyousieidieyoudieidieyoudieidieyoudieidieyoudieidiediediediediedie EVERYONE DIES

 _When he calls out for her to escape her nightmares, it's slow and certain. He makes sure not to force it because it"s the last thing she needs. It takes a while, and it never fails to be the most excruciating waiting he knows to this day. He's still learning what the exact feeling entails, but he's sure this is what it feels like._

 _Then finally her eyes open. They're a brilliant red for one split second before the light dies down. She looks confused and wild-eyed. She looks at him like he's an intruder that needs to be eliminated. So he calls to her vulnerable and erratic mind. Calls her name once, twice and assure that she's fine. And when she recognizes him, she's quick to abandon her pillow and latch herself onto him faster than he could react._

 _It's her usual reaction and his usual response. A hug is not a touch he's familiar with. He always grows stiff and fails to hug her back normally like she expects. He does anyway and tries his best to not make it obvious that he was incapable of giving her the comfort the others could easily do. But it's better than nothing, and since her magic immobilizes the rest of the team, he was the only one who could do anything to fix it._

 _"It's alright, Wanda. You are safe. You are fine. Everything is all right."_

 _She cries on. It always takes a while before she sobers up until she can talk, and he always waits. Tonight takes longer that he practically has to pull her off off him so he could convince her to start talking._

 _"I'm sorry... I'm sorry.. " She whimpers in broken sobs like she's choking on her own breath._

 _He shushes her patiently, calms her mind as best as he can. "What was it this time?"_

 _A breath, an attempt to clean her teary eyes. It's painful to look anywhere but Vision's patient blue one await hers ever so patiently. Her heart starts to calm down._

 _"I dreamt of Pietro again."_

 _He knows. The dreams are always the same._

 _"I know."_

 _She knows she's easy to read and post-nightmare always renders her nore vulnerable. But for some reason, Vision felt like there was something that she was hiding. He's been helping her train to shield her mind in the same way she can generate them physically. He's beginning to suspect that she"s had more imprimovement than she's been letting him on._

 _"Was it Sokovia again? With Ultron? Or a different variation?" An unusual question. But where they are now was past such boundaries._

 _The answer is simple. "Different."_

 _He stops himself from asking why her magic was unconsciously attacking his mind. "Different how?"_

 _She shakes her head and grips the sheets. "I don''t know."_

 _Now he's sure that she's hiding something. Still he can't bring himself to probe, not when she looks absolutely miserable and broken as opposed to her many powerful forms that he's seen. He can't do it to her. So he'll save it for now and do what's required of him. And that's to erase that horrible stain on her face and bring back the smile that belongs there._

 _So does something that he hasn't done before. He initiates the embrace now, pulling her back to him and cradling her just as she'd been waiting him to. It brings her to tears again but he knows its gratitude._

 _"You're all right." And this time, he says it in her language. He already feels the smile on her face._

 _"Yeah. I have you."_

 _He's not sure of the complete meaning behind it. But he is sure that it's pride swelling somewhere inside him._

 _"Vision?"_

 _"Yes, Wanda?"_

 _"In my dream... When Pietro died..."_

 _He angles his head so he can hear her better. "What is it?"_

 _She takes a shaky breath, half recovering from her previous fit and half keeping herself from having another. What she says next clearly deserved it._

 _"Everyone else died."_

 _And at the time, he didn't understand what that meant either._

* * *

He's standing patiently while he waits. Now that time incomprehensible time in the void was easier to grasp after the indefinite time he's been there, waiting doesn't take so long anymore.

The only light that he's come to know that exists here appears faster now. His sole companion is there where darkness once was and suddenly he's not alone in death anymore.

Strange has a mildly joyful look on his face. It must mean that he's learned a new detail in accordance to their predicament while he was gone. Vision, while wanting to know what it was, unfortunately had to ruin the mood before it was even settled between them.

"Doctor Strange." It's an opening to a statement and not a greeting.

The sorcerer immediately senses the disturbance in the synthezoid's mind. "What is it?"

"I had been under the impression that my Mind Stone had been successfully destroyed, which resulted my death and my permanence here. And because we agreed not to speak of whatever happened next after you surrendered your Time Stone, the subject has been almost forgotten."

Strange remains silent.

"It was a mistake on my part to ignore the fact that the Time Stone's very power is to reverse time and matter itself. I can only assume that he had done exactly that when..."

"What are you trying to say?" The sorcerer cuts in.

"I've had a dream. It sounds ludicrous, but this void has already proven that the unimaginable left unproven could be reality. So I dreamt."

The fact that Vision couldn't even complete his thought made Strange even more uneasy. "What did you dream?"

"That I died. By her hands. Her magic. With her crying face standing before me. And it was dark for mere seconds before I was suddenly awake again. And this time, it was _him._ Thanos took the Mind Stone, and I was dead once more. And Wanda...everyone else was left alone with the Titan holding all of the Infinity Stones."

All the joy that Strange arrived with was gone and dead. Just like they were.

"You saw what would happen. The Time Stone sees into all possible future as well."

"Yes. I did see."

Vision keeps his gaze as steady as he can. But there's no denying that this was the weakest display Strange has ever seen from him. "Did everyone die?"

"Only half of the universe died."

The android looks away now. It's unecessary to ask, because he's sure that the answer is yes. But he asks it anyway. "Was Wanda Maximoff one of them?"

And he wasn't wrong.

"Yes. She was." Strange alologizes as an after thought.

Maybe, Vision ponders, this was what she meant when everyone dies.

Gravity is silent, but it hums the confirmation.


	8. Chapter 8

**HEYYYOO ALL. BEEN GONE SO LONG. APOLOGIES APOLOGIES ALL AROUND. Hard to make time with all these crazies going round, but I would hate myself if i didn't finish this up.**

 **We're in September soon. Which means the Avengers 4 trailer will be up soon. WAAAAAAAAAH! And because i intend to wrap this up before the movie comes i have A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO**

 **Thank you all for your patience. All characters and Marvel material belong to their rightul owners. This story is just for fun. And a cure for our Infinity War depression.**

* * *

They haven"t spoken in a while. It's a ridiculous act, especially coming from what should supposedly be a being designed to be beyond human trifles such as harboring grudges due to a disagreement. And it's not like he could avoid Strange all the much either given they're both stuck in this god-forsaken void.

But the void, questionable as it was, seemed to understand the inner workings of the individuals it held captive. Ever since Vision came to the realization that the all stones had been collected by Thanos and that half the universe got wiped out, all contact with the sorcerer had been cut off. Whether it was intentional or not, remains unknown to the synthezoid.

He's more than glad of it. Grudges were still a foreign concept for him. Didn't live long enough to get the chance to learn after all. But it's not something he's ashamed of. If in death he can harbor a grudge, then by God let him harbor it.

Just when he thought he could carry on... The universe, his team... His Wanda... In the end his sacrifice had been for nothing. All it had manage to do was curse his beloved woman to witness his death twice. Once by her own hand, and the other by the Mad Titan that eventually killed her too.

The very thought makes him boil so rough inside he can almost imagine a hole burning away in his chest.

If he could get a chance... If he could go back to that moment when the Mind Stone first warned him of the impending danger on his life (and by extension the rest of the universe), he would HAVE just stayed in bed with her.

They would have just laid down together and fallen asleep listening to each other's minds that would not tire from saying how much they loved each other. He could almost see it clearly in this dark that perpetually smothered him.

The thought crossed him as well, as unpleasant as it was, but if Wanda did die, then perhaps he could be reunited with her here. Then maybe he would find it in himself to forgive Strange.

But it will always be a matter of if. He will never truly know unless it finally happens. And that burns a second hole in his already aching chest.

And then it appears. The light.

He almost makes a move to turn away from it before he realizes that it's not same light. For a moment he's almost hopeful that it could be her, that she had finally come back to him.

But the light isn't red. Instead it's a deep green.

Instantly he's up on his feet. This may be the second foreign entity to surface in the void, but he wasn't going to take the chance and believe that it was going to be friendly like the last one that came.

The light collects itself several feet away from him. Unlike with Strange, it forms fast and smooth. It began to take on shape and he's more than surprised to find that the shape includes an outline of what he could only assume were long tendrils on the head. Whoever-or whatever-has come was surely not a human.

"Who goes there?"

His voice echoes back and forth in the darkness. It must have been very loud or the intruder had sensitive hearing because the light seemed to shrink away from him and he swore he heard a snall voice wincing in pain. It sounded female.

"Who are you?" He repeats.

The light straightens back up and relaxes. When Vision makes no move, the green energy floated closer towards him, its shape becoming more defined into that of a feminine body. Two black pools began to form where the head was until the synthezoid was locking gazes with the dark-eyed entity. In spite of its seemingly hostile appearance, the voice that omitted from light was gentle and cheery.

"Hello." And as if having spoken completed its process, the light finally stabalized until the intruder's form was now fully visible.

Indeed, it was no human. Well, it was humanoid in form, but given the large eyes and what now Vision understands are antennas similar to an insect, he is assured that this creature was not of Earth.

"I am Mantis." Said the female alien. "What is your name, odd stranger?"

Vision finally drops his defensive guard, but his mental awareness was awaken instantaneously. "Odd?" He parrots. "What impression am I giving that makes you think that?"

Those dark eyes blink slowy and Vision is suddenly wary of his appearance despite having no reason to. If there was anyone odd here it would be her. If she was this care-free in questioning other beings in the void then she must have been here for quite some time like Vision has. Probably longer if she could manage such bubbly spirits.

The light extends towards the synthezoid. He assumes its the motion of a hand pointing at him. "You appear to be mechanical. Are you a robot?"

"I am an android." He answered.

The alien woman hums. "I have a friend who is a robot, Rocket. He keeps telling me that he isn't and yells and uses the bad language that makes him look more like a crabby puppy." And to top it all off she begins to laugh.

Vision couldn't decide which part was confounding him more. The fact that she was actually laughing or all of the nonsense out of her mouth that he couldn"t understand.

Not that he wanted to disrupt the mood she was in (it was honestly a refreshing change, especially after his little dispute with Strange yet again), but it would be wrong if he didn't confirm to her- and himself- of her predicament if she didn't know already.

"Pardon me for mentioning this Ms. Mantis, but I just need to ask.. Are you aware of where you are and how you came here?"

To his surprise, her cheerfulness lessens none. "Of course I do! It's not like it's my first day here!." She laughs again, just further heightening his concerns. Yet he can't bring himself to deny the alien her merriment. So he remains as patient as he can be.

"How long have you been here?" He asks after she's stopped laughing.

"I don't really know." And her light dims as she says it. "Drax always tells me not to think about time here so that it's not as sad."

It's too much information to take all at once. But he ws willing to take the time to allow her to explain. If just to avoid the possibility of meeting up with Stange. And perhaps to at least take his mind off the death of his love.

"Do tell me everything you wish, Ms. Mantis."

Her light brightens up and the cheer in her voice is quick to return. Despite not knowing him at all, she was more than willing to comply. "Ms. Mantis... I like that."

* * *

Only the void knows how long they spoke with each other. Well, it was mostly just Mantis. Vision focused on listening. It was good to listen to a new voice. It was easy to get lost in it and forget everything else he had been previously thinking of.

She spoke of her origins from beyond the galaxy. She'd been taken in by another extra terrestial known as Ego, who apparently had intentions of conquering the entire universe by 'expanding' himself on every planet.

This plot had been apprehended by a group known as the 'Guardians of the Galaxy', one that was similar to the Avengers.

The thought of individuals preventing mayhem and disasters even off Earth was relieving fact. At the very least, he can be assured that the world he knows will always be worlds away from other otherwordly threats. More or less.

Apparently Mantis and the Guardians had also actually met up with Stark and Strange and fought with the Mad Titan himself right on his very own home planet. Whatever time him and the rest of the Avengers were given to improvise and protect the Mind Stone was all thanks to the efforts of her group and Stark.

The little boy protege that Stark took in had also been present there. And seemingly, Strange was there too.

He can almost imagine the sorcerer surrending the Time Stone that ended half the universe's lives. Whatever had happened in their fight with Thanos that made him surrender the stone, Vision hopes to hear from the doctor himself.

And then Mantis told him of how her comrades fell. How she, and the others turned to ash. And just withered away in the wind before ending up here.

"Did it hurt?" Vision speaks up when the alien woman has gone silent. "When you faded away?"

She turns her head and gives him perfect view of her deep, ebony eyes. It seemed to speak more words than her light did. "I couldn't feel anything at all."

He lets her think to find a better word for it. But then again, what other words can you use to describe the instance you disappeared from world?

"It felt like the world died. And I was swallowed up by it."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Until her light begins to flicker and Vision knows what it means. It's time for her to go.

"I must sadly depart, odd stranger."

Vision can feel himself give a sad smile. "Indeed."

"Will you be all right here?"

He almost, almost laughs. "Where else will I go?"

She then regrets having said it but knows it can never be taken back. So she lets her lights blink away. Then suddenly she turns back at the last moment. "I never got your name, odd stranger."

"I am Vision... And it was a pleasure to have met you Ms. Mantis."

Her smile is the only reply he gets before she is gone. It's beautiful. The shades of green and yellow mixing in small glitters. A beautiful fade.

As horrible as it sounds, he imagines the fading away of his own comrades. Dust flying in the wind like sand sparkle. Close his eyes and he can imagine Wanda's fade. In all her pain from past, present and current horrors, she must've looked stunning then just as she"s always done before.

Stunning even in death. Perhaps he may be able to tell her that when the day her light finally appears in this void

Gravity calls, and Vision opens his eyes to nothing.

* * *

 **BOOM YEAH! MANTIS IS HEEEEYAAAAAAAR**

 **So I guess it"s becoming a little obvious where the story is being held eyy? Hehehehe. I'll probably explain it by the end of this story.**

 **Also the reason why I chose Mantis this time is because she developed feeligs for Vision in the comics-but was apparently rejected. But at least they can be friends here hehehehe.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I know 3 months is a long time. Hate me hate me hate me. But when all is said and done, I give a chapter. I promised to finish this. And with Christmas a few days away, it is a time for chapter miracles.**

 **So... Avengers End Game huh? May the theories come to fruition.**

 **Let's not dilly dally any longer!**

* * *

 _It only took a year for the team to initiate Wanda on regular missions. In no time at all she was an Avenger just like everyone else. Flying between countries, hiding in plain sight, whispering between comms. All of the good stuff._

 _Quite unfortunate that his abilities prevented him from joining them, and thereby prevent him from witnessing her in action. But Vision had his mind, and he never failed to imprint on the Scarlet Witch's own so that she carried him with her whenever the world needed saving. And of course, the news was always there to provided the eventual story of the Avengers' success._

 _Most importantly, after every mission, when rest is due and the weapons are stayed, Wanda always comes looking for him to share her own view of the mission. Every detail of what she heard, saw, smelt. And what she did to help the team. They were stories Vision could never tire from._

 _For a soul who had undergone twin tragedies, Wanda Maximoff had come a long way. Vision couldn't be any prouder._

 _He is alone again today. It doesn't bother him anymore now that the initial awkward familiarity had evolved into acceptance and trust between him and his team, his family of friends. And his new mindset-if the world didn't need him then it meant no monumental monstrosity was prowling about-made it easier to accept a mundane routine within the compound._

 _The Avengers had gone on a mission to Lagos, and they had brought Wanda with them. Vision had holed himself up in the training room at the time and so was unable to keep tabs on the news to the team's status. And despite the cloud in his mind that hindered him from finding her telepathically, he was confident in his team's strength._

 _But most importantly, hers._

* * *

 _No one is smiling when they return. All is grey, sullen and the air is heavy with regret. He doesn't need the news to inform him of what happened. Their minds easily painted him the picture of the horrific explosion that accidentally ended the lives of several civilians._

 _An explosion that apparantly had been contained and manipulated by their Scarlet Witch herself._

 _Having realized that he read her, Wanda disappears into her room and refuses to come out._

 _It was his immediate intention to talk with her, but Stark's sudden presence in the compound-and his insistence of the synthezoid's company-keeps Vision unwillingly occupied._

 _As Stark converses with Romanoff and the others, he can"t shake off the feeling of something troubling the inventor, too. But he is torn between further investigating that and wondering how he should approach Wanda._

 _About an hour passes and a new 'guest' arrives. Vision is asked to fetch Steve and Wanda to join the rest of the team. Hurriedly he goes._

 _Seeing that their guest was the Secretary of the St further informed Vision of the gravity of the situation. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to steal Wanda away now, he improvises a simple but positively effective tactic to (hopefully) distract her about the issue even if just for a second._

 _When he reaches the outside of her room, he foregoes the door and easily floats through the wall. She and the Captain are quietly conversing about the incident when he 'barges' in, and he does not miss the shock and annoyance on her face when she realizes the feat he'd done._

 _"Viz.." She starts and he has to bite down on his synthetic tongue to stop himself from smiling at the precious nickname. "We've talked about this."_

 _The exasperation in both her voice and mind proves that his little plan had worked. His face remains the same as he excuses himself, tells them that Stark has arrived and that they have a guest that needed their presence._

 _The momentary distraction he had given Wanda disappears when he details who the guest is._

* * *

 _When the Secretary has relayed his purpose for coming, Vision feels a foreign fire coursing under his vibranium person._

 _It was barely there when Sec. Ross explained the implications of the Avengers' actions for the past years, the damage to the public and civilian casualties that could never be avoided. It was a tiny spark when the man sugar-coated that it was Wanda's doing that the accident in Lagos happened. It was fanned violently when they were shown a footage of the battle at Sokovia a year ago, and the reaction it summoned from Wanda. And by the time they were shown the Sokovian Accords and what it would mean for them, the fire was a tremendous blaze._

 _They were left to discuss about it and what decision they would make._

 _Everyone had their own opinions to agree and disgree to the contract. By the time they made it clear what they thought, the team was in a divide._

 _Rogers says something along the lines of 'contaning enhanced individuals for the safety of everyone' and he feels Wanda's aura flare anxiously in silent fear._

 _"You're saying they will come after me." She stated. Because it was no question of anyone doing that._

 _"We will protect you." Vision inmediately answers, albeit with difficulty due to his chest tightening from the inside._

 _He feels Wanda looking at him from his response but he says no more for fear of saying something that could further escalate the already heavy tension between his teammates._

 _When it seemed like no one was going to meet things halfway, Vision decides to do it for them. Although by the time he's spoken it was more than obvious that he agreed with the accords rather than giving a neutral point. He can hear Wanda's thoughts of disappointment and disbelief, but she understands his reasons._

 _And yet at the same time he doesn't want her to. He may be willing to keep himself contained until called upon but he knows better than anyone that it should not be done to his team. He trusted the Captain's judgement, the constant belief that no matter what situation, what was right always came first._

 _And yet, he still found himself siding with Stark. It makes the fire almost unbearable._

 _As their discussion comes to a close by Steve's abrupt leave, he and Wanda exchange quick glances. They try to say as much as they can through words that only they can hear. And it is then that Vision realizes that Wanda herself was harboring a fire._

 _One that was much stronger than his._

* * *

 _She's confined to the compound by Stark, and he'd be lying if he didn't admit that the choice to lock the Witch away burned him even more._

 _Still, he takes it as an opportunity to comfort her. To ease her from all the brewing tumult that he doesn't wish upon any of them. Most especially her._

 _He even goes as far as to cook for her. A commom dish among Sokovians that would hopefully bring back good memories. Of course, after weighing his expectations to the reality that he did NOT need food (and therefore had no idea what it tasted like, let alone know HOW to cook), he is left standing clueless in the kitchen with a mess of ingredients and a pot of ruby liquid on the stove._

 _Positively, he did NOT do any of the steps right and didn't do the dish justice. But the soup-err stew?-was red and because it complemented her then it was an accomplishment for him._

 _When she comes over to taste it, he is both embarrassed and relieved at her reaction. She was kind enough to not downright make fun of his cooking and even offered to help him mend the God-forsaken pot in hopes of satsifying Vision's efforts._

 _Not that he needed her to. The fact that he had managed to make her smile and laugh was satisfying enough._

 _They dive into a conversation regarding human nature and the innate fear residing in them. She's surprised to find that he, like everyone else, has a fear too. Well, more of an uncertainty really, but he lets her count it so they're even._

 _He fears the unknown of his power. His stone. And she fears that the world deems her as nothing more but a vessel of destruction._

 _Before the conversation can go any deeper than that, Wanda tries to excuse herself into leaving the compound. He tries to humor her into changing her mind before admitting that her staying in the compound was necessary to prevent another incident. It makes him sceethe to say it, and he wishes he could just tell her that they all just wanted her safe. Especially him._

 _She tests him with her overpowering will, eyes dark and fiery. He holds her arm firmly and meets her gaze without faltering. Aside from Stark's "request', she wants to know if he had any other motives in keeping her here._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _He doesn't even hesitate saying: "For people to see you, as I do."_

* * *

 _When Clint arrives to bust Wanda out, Vision was more than willing to let her go. But his body seemed to have more control than his thoughts did._

 _He ends up having a one-sided fight with the archer. It pleases him none, but he doesn't stop himself. He can't tell why._

 _Then Wanda intervenes. It shocked him greatly that she decides to use his powers against him instead of just her usual spells._

 _He is an awe as she manipulates his gem into increasing his density. All she's doing is twirling her fingers and grounding words he's already heard in her mind. And yet here he goes, falling to his knees and sinking into the floor._

 _There's no fighting her. He doesn't want to. Doesn't need to. She's already won, struggle as he might._

 _She pushes him harshly down into the lower levels of the compound, and he's never felt more alive. Perhaps his insistence to carry on Stark's orders, resistence to Clint's 'reasoning' and belief in the Accords were all for show. That what he really wanted was for her to accept herself and brave through this dark time that they'd all so carelessly fallen into._

 _Now that he knows she has, he regrets nothing as he feels her exit the building with Clint and disappear into the night when she shuts off her mind from him._

 _Funny how it had to take her plunging him into the basement for him to realize that._

* * *

 _When they meet again, it's in Berlin. At an airport. What's more was that they were on opposite sides. It saddened him greatly to have to see that. But they both chose the sides they stood on today. They both made their choices. There was no turning back._

 _As the fight between allies commences, he deliberately avoids her. For the better part of it all he just stands by in the air and waits until he could assist in apprehending the others-that wasn't her and would involve her the least._

 _In spite of this ill battle, Vision still found himself admiring the Witch even as she faced off with his companions._

 _To see her in heat of battle like this gave him a profound sense of joy. To know that she always exceeded his expectations and that there was always something under her sleeve that never failed to astonish him was always so rewarding. He may as well just kneel again and simply remain at the sidelines to just watch her in all her merciless glory._

 _But he was still needed. And as much as he hated it, today, she and Captain Rogers' team were his enemies._

 _Eventually things got verily out of hand when one of Rogers' people, Scott Lang or 'Ant-man', shocked everyone present by resizing himself into a giant._

 _By then, everything was happening all too fast. Rogers and Barnes were getting away and the rest of the group were too occupied with the- gi-Ant Man to pursue them. So it was left to Vision again. He then fires a beam towards the tow_ _er of the hangar the two soldiers were headed and thick collection of debris effectively came down to block their path._

 _Then to his surprise, the red mist came upon the debris and held it mid-air as Wanda concentrated her energy to give Rogers and Barnes enough time to pass through. Vision could only shake his head. She could equal any feat he performed. If not exceed it._

 _Just as Rogers and Barnes managed to enter the hangar, Colonel Rhodes suddenly came rushing at the scene. Seeing it was Wanda's doing, he suddenly brought out his hand and subjected the witch to what he could only deduce was a sonic/magnetic field that painfully dirsupted her mind._

 _There it was again. That flame. It seared through Vision's body like a violent eruption as he heard her scream and watched her crumple to the ground like a dead leaf. It was wrong. All of this was wrong. None of them needed to do this. And he could feel that everyone thought the same. So why wasn't anyone stopping?_

 _Instantly, the synthezoid forgot the ongoing battle and floated down towards the weakened Wanda who continued to clutch a hand to her head. He knelt down-much like he did when she forced him back at the compound-and brought his arms around her to support her exhausted body._

 _It took her a moment to will the pain away and realize he was there. But eventually she dropped her hand to meet his eyes. One look. It was all they both needed, and all was forgiven._

 _She's sorry for what she did, he forgives her._

 _He's sorry for what he did, and she forgives him._

 _She wishes everyone could be like them, then maybe all of this could've been prevented. He agrees._

 _He would've embraced her to truly show her that he regretted his actions since signing the damned Accords. But Rhodes' voice rings through his comm. He wants Vision to shoot Sam down from where he was preventing the Colonel from going after Rogers and Barnes in the escaping Quinjet._

 _Vision has no idea how it happened. But when he removed his eyes from Wanda and looked up, everything seemed to have blacked out. His beam shoots into the sky with no confirmed target. Until it hits Rhodes right in the arc reactor of his suit._

 _He falls, like a shining, metal meteor. Both Sam and Stark try to catch him. But the plummet was inevitable. And by the time Vision realized what he had done, he returns his gaze to the woman in his arms. She reads him as easily as he reads her, but neither speak a word._

 _It truly was a catastrophe._

* * *

Mantis pulled away with a short gasp. She's gone through countless of individuals in her lifetime. Read through their own respective spectrums of feelings and the actions that went with it. It was quite confounding how an android contained more emotions than all of the rest combined.

"Did you see?" Vision asks, quiet but hopeful to know.

Mantis nodded. "And I saw her."

"My Wanda..." The synthezoid nods solemnly.

The insect alien looked out into the void before them. The dark seemed to mirror the black pools of her eyes. "You mourn for her."

"Everyday."

"I am sorry." The she-bug replied. She rubbed her hands together and stayed her eyes there. "I'm sure, wherever she is, she is mourning for you as well."

Vision gave a humorless laugh. "It seem that all I've ever made her do is mourn."

"You know for a machine, you feel a lot." She said all the sudden. "Were you made that way?"

Closing his eyes, Vision focused on his memories of Wanda again. Holding onto her image, her voice and her spirit. "It was her. She made me that way."

The synthezoid grows quiet and when he doesn't speak again, Mantis places a hand on his shoulder again and explores the ocean of emotions in his memories.

Spending the past few days like this hadn't been the best idea. Remembering always hurt, especially since it always ends at the same image of him dying. And her following shortly after.

But remembering reminded him that it was real and not a dream. And that somehow, even though things ended the way they did, he was still lucky to have been with her then to have not had her in the first place at all.

Gravity calls, and for Vision and Mantis, the road to memory lane continues.


End file.
